Unfortunately, the actions of curebies and other such zealots does not leave a lot of room for this. They threaten our very survival. I would not be surprised to learn that a curebie wrote the
"arse-burger" episodes of
Law & Order.
There is room for both approaches, but discretion is needed as to which to apply when. People like Dick Wolf deserve vilification for approving those scripts, for example. As to who deserves the other approach, well, if I meet any real-life examples I will let you know.
Well, my present idea is to write stories about the abuse that Aspies suffer and put them into the public fora where they can be heard. Not an easy way to do it, but I am not sure I have any others.
And let me be frank. The public is already threatening our survival. We are second class citizens in a world where the lowest common denominator rules. I am not so sure I want to live in such a society.
First off, let me say that I am not pro-cure. I am as opposed to them as any of you, mayhap even more. But from what I've seen so far, we've been demonizing them. None of them hate us. It is true, they occasionally mistreat us - but it is a thing done out of ignorance.
They are humans, like us (if in some ways different,) and they think they're doing something good. They think that our complaints are the products of ill minds. Instead of immediately tearing into anyone that says "I'm pro-cure," politely ask why they think that, deconstruct their beliefs, and rebuild them in our glorious image.
Do not let this escalate to a mindless war. Be polite, communicate (however hard that may be,) and show them that we are living, thinking beings, instead of one-sided zealots. Whilst there are some people who you cannot negotiate with, I am sure that a vast majority listen to common sense.
They are not evil - simply misguided. Show them the light, ja?
We do communicate with them politely, and try to inform. At two of the protests the people who were walking treated the peaceful AFF protestors badly, spitting at them, name calling, tearing signs, maybe you should email them and tell them to treat us respectfully. :wink:
I have said many times the curebies have 2 main motivations:
1 - ignorance
I sympathise with parents who have been convinced that the only way to help their children is some form of cure becoming available or using the treatments advised by "professionals"
2 - money
This is more sinister, the people who purposely show negative images of autism in order to sell a product.
Personally, I do feel angry with some curebies, but try and maintain a reasonable dialogue when communicating. Sending hatemail and acting purely from anger feels good, but it can work against us. Have a look in the General forum for John Best's posts - that is an individual who has actively attacked autistics and generally behaves in an extremely nasty manner.
Iron Man, it would be seen as "proof" that Aspies are seriously mentally disturbed and in need of an immediate cure. NAAR might even revise their fundraising literature to discuss the death of the poor afflicted sufferer and how urgent it was to prevent such tragedies in the future by giving generously. :evil:
I really hope you're not seriously thinking about anything like that.
*pictures what would happen if an Aspie walked into a NAAR rally and set himself ablaze, dying at their feet...*
A pretty irresponsible thing to say. :!:
It wouldn't do any good. It might get on p3 of the paper but sadly would be conveniently forgotten soon after (except by the loved ones of the incinerated person)
And was the album raising money to help people, or was it using shock value to sell their music? Sounds like they were using it in an exploitative sense.
I disagree, I never heard about the case you described, but look at probably the most famous protest case - Rosa Parks sitting on a bus, it was simple, non-violent and made a huge change that will never be forgotten.
She is the best example I can think of.
I'm not saying it brought about all changes, but it was a pivotal moment, or a catalyst if you will.
One of the impediments to our goals is that the media has been so successful in making us look like a bunch of monsters that we literally cannot argue without receiving a ton of crap.
I really don't think this is true, Iron Man. Most people don't know what Asperger's is, and many of those that do have learned of it from books like "The Curious Incident..." which shew us in a sympathetic light.
Considerable publicity has been given to the notion that Einstein and other distinguished thinkers may have been on the Spectrum, and the recent notice about AFF in The Times can only be seen as favourable.
In my view, one of the biggest impediments we face in AFF is trying to remain focused on our objectives, rather than become embroiled in petty disputes between ourselves, or fantastic speculations about the universe and such, while day in, day out, autistic people all round the world are being abused, tortured, and worse.
Stella
Would it be possible to explain what you don't want cured? I know I'd like my OCD tendacies cured. I have no need for that part. I've got stimming under control, but I have no need for that either. If it's for curing who you are as a person, I'm 100% against that. Heck, I took some medication that altered my personality. I am not too happy about that (even if it did have some benefits). It had too many negative effects. I'm for "curing" symptoms if I can remain true to myself.
From what I've seen, they want to "cure" autism in that they can terminate pregnancies and the like. That's scary stuff there. I'm against that. I wonder what they'll do when they finally find out it's not the 1% they thought it was, but it's pervasive throughout all humanity. I may be alone in this thought, but only time will tell.
I would love to get rid of all the depression but that isn't the Asperger, it is a co-morbidity. Apart from that, most of the Asperger traits are fine with me.
Would it be possible to explain what you don't want cured?
Few, if any, people would object to treating cormibond conditions, or stuff like speech therapy.
However, "curing" autism would mean that changing thier behavior and thought process, to make them act like someone their not.
Yes, I think thats right.
There is an article that I wrote about the aims of AFF and treatment of comorbids.